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Students learn about apparent pathway of the sun by making observations from a simulator depicting the apparent pathway of the sun and creating a diagram that they use to explain why Longyearbyen, Norway goes months without daylight. Students extend their thinking about apparent pathway of the sun and angle of insolation by creating a diagrammatic model of a solar panel that would optimally harness the energy from the Sun.

Students learn about evidence for Earth's rotation by making observations of a Foucault pendulum video and a Coriolis effect simulator. Students then provide reasoning for why the evidence they have investigated supports the claim that the Earth rotates. Additionally, students learn about the concept of time zones by graphing time vs longitude data and creating an algebraic model to represent the relationship between time and latitude.

Using this pre-assessment task, the teacher can get a sense of students' prior knowledge about topics covered in the unit.

Students learn about differences in solar insolation across the Earth by collecting and graphing data from an angle of insolation lab.

Students learn about differences in solar insolation across the Earth by collecting and graphing data from an angle of insolation lab or simulator and using their graph to explain how solar insolation varies across different latitudes on Earth. Students then learn about how the Earth's relative position and motion in relation to the Sun accounts for differences in insolation by making observations of a simulator and creating a diagrammatic model to explain their understanding of Seasons.

What would happen if an asteroid hit the Earth and changed its tilt? What if the Earth stopped spinning?
Which one of these scenarios would you like to have your classmates investigate and make predictions about? Using materials provided by your teacher and any other teacher approved materials you can gather at home, create a model that explains two of the celestial phenomena you studied in this unit. This model should also allow you and others to make predictions about one of the scenarios/questions above or any other interesting scenarios/questions you can come up with yourself.

Students learn about why we see different phases of the moon by making observations of a 3-D Moon phase model and a moon phase simulator. Students then learn about the relationship between moon phases and tides by graphing daily tides and associating them with the phases of the moon. Finally, students extend their thinking by using their understanding of relative perspective to explain how solar and lunar eclipses happen.

The Regents Item Bank provides questions from past Regents exams aligned with the content of this unit.

Items from past Regents exams

What humans see and experience from Earth is largely explained by the Earth's relative motion and position. In this unit, students will explore simulators, 3-D models, and data in order to develop an understanding of celestial phenomena and create their own models that help explain concepts such as the apparent path of constellations and the Sun, seasons, and the phases of the Moon.

This booklet can be used with teams of teachers to work through the resources in Unit 6.